Reventlow Automobiles

Money was not a problem for American racer Lance Reventlow, the only son of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton from her marriage to Danish count Court Haugwitz-Reventlow. He grew up with Cary Grant as his stepfather and no financial worries - his mother having inherited $40m in the late 1930s.

When Reventlow was 22 he set up Reventlow Automobiles Inc. and began building his own sportscars which were called Scarabs and raced with some success in the United States.

The team embarked on an ambitious Formula 1 program for the 1959 racing season but there were inevitable delays and the car - a front-engined machine - did not appear until 1960 by which point it was already obsolete.

Two cars were built and they first appeared at the Monaco GP in May 1960 with Reventlow and engineer Chuck Daigh driving the blue and white machines. Daigh was fast enough to qualify in Holland but did not start because of a dispute over starting money.

The team appeared in Belgium and both cars raced although Reventlow was out after a lap with engine failure and Daigh managed only 16 laps before he too stopped with mechanical trouble. At the French GP both cars suffered engine failures in practice and as there were insufficient spares they did not race. The project was then abandoned although Daigh drove one of the cars at the US Grand Prix in Riverside in November and finished 10th.

The following year one of the cars reappeared in a few Intercontinental Formula races with Daigh driving. He finished eighth in the Lavant Cup at Goodwood and seventh in the International Trophy but then crashed the car at the British Empire Trophy at Silverstone. Another car - a rear-engined single-seater with a Chevrolet engine was built for races in America but the project was soon abandoned.

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